


I Will Never Leave You

by startrekkingaroundasgard



Series: 25 days of ficmas [22]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Home for Christmas, Meet the Family, Odin is a dick, hela is an amazing sister
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 01:11:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17254820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekkingaroundasgard/pseuds/startrekkingaroundasgard
Summary: College AU where Loki brings the reader home to meet his family for Christmas, but is scared that his father will scare her away. The reader bashes heads with Odin and reassures Loki that nothing will ever change her feelings for him.





	I Will Never Leave You

“My family are a bit… weird.”

A smile played on your lips. “And you aren’t?”

“Touche. But they can be a little… My father, especially…”

“I’m not scared of your dad, Loki,” you said, leaning back in your seat. For the hundredth time in your short train ride, you grumbled how damn uncomfortable it was and made a note that next time you did this trek to pay for first class tickets. After all, you were already drowning in student debt. What difference would another $50 make?

Oblivious to your dreams of plushy seats and enough leg room to actually sit comfortably, Loki let out a deep sigh and turned his face away from you. Staring out the window, watching as the world rushed by in a white and grey blur, Loki said softly, ”You should be. I’m sorry I didn’t tell them about us sooner but if you’d met them… If you knew what my father was like…”

You reached over and rested your hand over his, giving it a gentle squeeze. You tried to ignore the wetness in his eyes, the way his lip trembled as he clung to your hand like you would disappear the moment he let go, but you’d never seen him so scared.

Without a word, you wrapped him tightly in your arms. He buried his face in your neck and you stroked his dark hair until the tension drained from his muscles. Gently gripping his forearms, you pulled back and brushed your lips over his. “Nothing will change the way I feel about you, Loki. I swear.”

He nodded and even tried to smile, a wobbly attempt at best. The illusion of being put together was certainly not helped by his bloodshot eyes. He desperately wanted to believe that his father wouldn’t scare you away but you knew he wasn’t so easily convinced.

***

You got to Loki’s house a few hours later, shivering from the cold and drenched to the core. You knew buses around here weren’t all that reliable but after waiting an hour in the rain you had cursed the state department of transport and called a taxi instead.

Even without him telling you, you could have guessed which was his the moment the cab pulled into the street. While every other house was glowing with Christmas cheer, there was one house which was entirely devoid of festive decorations. A dark spot in the otherwise colourful and lively neighbourhood.

As you got close, though, you realised that wasn’t entirely true. The upstairs windows had been decorated from the inside, although in two completely contrasting styles. On the left, it was covered with terrible paper snowflakes and tacky Christmas lights which flickered manically before overheating and going dark. A small dancing Santa sat in the corner of the window, shaking his hips erratically, trousers halfway down to his ankles, grinning like he’d had a little too much eggnog.

The right hand window appeared to still be decorated from Halloween. Cobwebs hung from the windows, discoloured spiders and bats pressed haphazardly over the glass. It looked as if they had been there for over a decade, something which Loki quickly confirmed.

“That’s Hela. She put them up when she was about ten and never took them down. Kinda likes the whole dead vibe that they give the room. She’s into the sort of stuff. Necromancy and dark magic. She even tried to resurrect the family dog after it passed away a few years back. If my parents didn’t keep such a close eye on her, she would definitely join a cult.” Glancing up and down the road, Loki let out a relieved sigh and said, “My dad isn’t home yet so we’re okay.”

“Loki, it’s gonna be fine. I am really not worried about your dad.”

“Hmm. Well, come on. Mother is peering through the kitchen window and thinks I haven’t noticed.”

You’d barely opened the door before Loki’s mother pulled him into a tight hug. She smoothed down his damp hair, shaking her head and muttering that he should take better care of himself. Ignoring his protests, she pulled him in for another hug and you couldn’t help wonder if this was the first time that Loki had been home all year. That would certainly explain his mother’s reaction.

While you hovered waiting for them to finish catching up, you got your first glimpses of his siblings. You had seen them hovering at the top of the stairs when you’d stepped inside but now they were not so subtly venturing downstairs to check you out.

Hela was exactly as you imagined from Loki’s stories. She was tall and thin like her brother, sporting equally dark hair and a leather jacket you would definitely be trying on before you left. Her skin was so pale you wondered if she’d ever set foot outside during the day but were more interested by the tattoo on her neck. It was a beautiful design; a skull with dried roses and vines wrapped around it.

She caught you staring and met your gaze for a long second, her icy blue eyes piercing your soul, before smirking and flipping her long hair over her shoulder so that you had a clearer view of her tattoo. She sent a brief nod in Loki’s direction - you presumed that was a good thing as he smiled back at her - then returned to making her coffee without a word.

As similar as Hela and Loki were, Thor was completely different. He came skidding into the kitchen decked out in a sports jersey, golden hair damp and messy from the shower. He towered over you in the same way that his siblings did but was at least twice the size of them when it came to muscles. Your hand twitched by your side as you resisted the urge to reach up and squeeze his biceps because wow.

He slid up to his sister and stole her coffee, jumping up onto the counter and staring at you with a huge grin. Excitement rolled off of him in waves, an intensity you’d only ever encountered once before - with your aunt’s golden retriever.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Y/N. I’m Frigga. I wish I could say I’ve heard all about you but Loki only told me about you last week.” She didn’t sound angry, per say, more just disappointed that her son hadn’t felt comfortable enough to tell her about his relationship.

“He didn’t tell me either,” Thor said, swinging his legs so excitedly that he put a dent in the cabinet door beneath him. “Probably because he knew Y/N would be blown away by my godly looks.”

“Ignore him,” Hela said, rolling her eyes as she offered you a cup of coffee. “He thinks he’s charming but isn’t. And you shouldn’t be surprised, mother. Loki has always been one for secrets. Of course he didn’t want to tell us about his beautiful new girlfriend.”

“Well, either way, I’m glad to meet you, Y/N.” Frigga plucked the the coffee from Thor’s hands and all but ordered him to take your bags up to Loki’s room. She ignored your protests and insisted that you were her guest and this weekend she would ensure you were treated like royalty.

You spent the evening in the living room with Loki and Thor, watching an old film about Vikings on the history channel. You barely paid it any attention though, far more interested by Hela’s constant teasing of her younger brothers. It was amazing how many different ways she knew to get under their skin and she was more than happy to let you in on a few of her secrets.

The good mood between you all snapped when the front door slammed shut. All three siblings sighed and Loki mumbled, “Father’s home.”

An older man stormed into the living room and stalled when he saw all his children looking almost joyful. He stared directly at you and narrowed his eyes, the scars around his right eye making the scowl even more terrifying. “Who are you?”

“Y/N. I’m dating your son.”

A slightly unnatural grin spread across his face as he exclaimed, “Thor, I didn’t know you’d gotten yourself a girlfriend.”

“No,” you interrupted. “I’m dating Loki. Have been for six months.”

At that, Loki’s father scowled and walked away without another word. There was a tense silent in the living room, eventually broken by Hela who was, unexpectedly, wearing a proud smile. Bumping her elbow against Loki’s, she said softly, “That could’ve gone a lot worse. Last time I brought a girl home, I thought he was gonna stab her with one of his golf clubs.”

“And you remember how cold he was towards Sif,” Thor said, jumping on the bandwagon to try and cheer Loki up.

Your eyes widened in surprise. “Sif, the leader of the women’s wrestling team? She’s a legend! What happened?”

“She broke it off with Thor about two weeks after he brought her home to meet our parents,” Hela answered, glancing at you curiously.

There was a warning in there somewhere, and you weren’t the only one who caught it. Loki stiffened slightly beside you so you just snuggled up closer and tightened your hold on him. “I will never leave you, Loki.”

***

Dinner was one of the most awkward affairs you had ever had the misfortune of sitting through.

Odin barely talked to Loki. On occasion he would speak to Hela but spent most of the time assuming she didn’t exist. He attention was almost always directed at Thor, asking about his football career and the next big league game. It was tremendously boring for everyone involved, even Thor who seemed like he couldn’t care less about whether his team won or not.

The moment Thor tried to talk about how well he was doing in his degree - studying three languages, taking a wild module in astrophysics and another is woodwork - Odin would find a way to bring the conversation away from that. It was like all he cared about was Thor’s strength and athleticism, barely giving a single concern to the pursuits of the mind.

He never once asked about how Loki’s course was going and didn’t seem at all impressed when Lki announced that he had won a scholarship from the literature department for his critical analysis on the poetry of Lewis Carol. Hela patted her baby brother on the back and Frigga told him how proud she was but Odin merely grunted.

It made you so angry.

Loki held your hand beneath the table, silently begging you not to make a scene but you couldn’t help the anger flowing through your veins. For Loki’s sake you held it in, even though you wanted nothing more than to punch Odin in the face. Instead, you found another - frankly more satisfying - way to annoy his father and took great pleasure in watching him turn progressively more red in the face as the evening proceeded.

“So, Hela,” you said, cutting Odin off as he started to ask Thor some boring sports question. “What are you doing at the moment?”

“I’m a few months away from finishing my training as an mortician,” she replied, sitting up a little straighter than she had before. Pushing her dark hair out of her face, you were genuinely mesmerised by the way she proceeded to explain her role and job. Even Loki seemed a little surprised to see Hela so chatty.

“Must you speak of death at the dinner table?” Odin grumbled.

You didn’t even turn to face him when you dismissed his concerns. “We finished eating half an hour ago. And anyway, I thought people your age had come to terms with death already. Look at it practically; she can give you a cheap burial. Sorry, Hela. You were saying something fascinating about that hospice you volunteer at?”

Once you’d exhausted your questions for Hela, you immediately turned to Thor and began asking him about his languages and whether or not he wanted to travel in the future. It turned out that he wanted to visit Norway and had even been offered an internship there on an animal rescue programme (he was most excited to spend time with the bunnies).

Frigga was your next target. You asked her about her work as a florist. She was incredibly humble about what she did but you had seen the pieces around her home and recognised her talent. Even talking about the biggest deal of the year with a company called Foster Ltd, she was self effacing - a quality her husband severely lacked.

“My company Asgard International - I built it up from nothing, you know - had dealings with Foster Limited a few years ago. We…”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t talking to you,” you said, flashing him a sickly sweet smile. “I’m really not interested in whatever experimental weapons it is you work with. Frigga, you were saying?”

After that, Hela joined in on your scheme, quickly followed by Thor and even Frigga as the evening neared a close. Between you all, you managed to keep the conversation on topics which Odin knew little to nothing about.

Beside you, Loki relaxed and scooched his chair closer to yours so that you could link your arms together. He pulled you into his embrace, kissing your temple as he regaled your disastrous attempt to bake Christmas cookies. You buried your head in his shoulder, your face burning with embarrassment.

“The fire department know her by name now,” Loki teased, going on to count the other times you’d nearly burnt the dorms down. “But Y/N sent them a lovely Christmas card and a few dozen boxes of doughnuts as an apology.”

On and on this went until it was time for you to finally call it a night. You wished everyone a good evening, passing hugs all around. Except for Odin. You graced him with little more than a brief nod before taking Loki’s hand and running up the stairs like an excited child.

In his room, once changed into your comfortable, fluffy pyjamas, you clambered into bed with your boyfriend and wrapped your arms around him. You were almost always the big spoon and definitely didn’t mind, for it gave you perfect access to kiss his neck and coax those beautiful gasps from his mouth when you sucked on his earlobe.

“I’d say that went pretty well, wouldn’t you?” you asked, tangling your legs with his.

“My father hates you.”

“Well, that was rather the point, dear.”

Loki rolled over so that he was facing you, your noses touching. “You didn’t have to do any of that, Y/N.”

“Sure I did. He was rude to you, Loki, and I could never stand by and watch anyone treat the man I love that way. Not even his father.”

“No one has ever stood up against him like that. Certainly not for me.”

“I’d do it again,” you said, meaning every word. “In fact, I plan on seeing just how far I can push him until he finally snaps.”

“I love you so much,” Loki said, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into a sweet, gentle kiss.


End file.
